CPU clock speed is the number of cycles your CPU executes every second. The speed was just a single number measured in MHz and then GHz. Nowadays, CPUs can boost their clock speed, and with multi-core CPUs or processors, things get even more complicated. In essence, when trying to figure out the speed of a CPU, you might want to know its minimum (base), maximum (boost), and current speed. You'll also want to see this speed for all the CPU cores.
Clock speed is not an absolute measure of the CPU's performance. This is because there are countless optimizations in modern CPUs that higher clock speed does not always ensure better performance in real-life usage.
There are several tools in Linux that you can use to show the speed of your CPU. Some are installed by default in most Linux systems, while others require manual installation. Each tool also provides varying details you may or may not find sufficient.
Related: How to benchmark CPU speed in Linux
$ lscpu | grep ^Model\ name Model name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10510U CPU @ 1.80GHz
Related: How to show CPU information in Linux
$ sudo dmidecode -t processor | grep "Max Speed" Max Speed: 4900 MHz
$ sudo dmidecode -t processor | grep "Current Speed" Current Speed: 1683 MHz
$ sudo snap install auto-cpufreq #Ubuntu
$ sudo auto-cpufreq --monitor ##### snipped ------------------------------ Current CPU stats ------------------------------ CPU max frequency: 4900 MHz CPU min frequency: 400 MHz Core Usage Temperature Frequency CPU0: 0.0% 44 °C 900 MHz CPU1: 3.0% 43 °C 2300 MHz CPU2: 5.9% 43 °C 2477 MHz CPU3: 1.0% 42 °C 2300 MHz CPU4: 0.0% 44 °C 2300 MHz CPU5: 2.0% 43 °C 902 MHz CPU6: 1.0% 43 °C 2300 MHz CPU7: 0.0% 42 °C 900 MHz ##### snipped
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